REVDANS

One of my tasks as Director of Home Missions and Evangelism is to seek encourage, recruit and oversee church planters and church-planting. In my denomination it takes at least twenty-five members to establish a church. Until it reaches that point, it remains a mission church. This seems large compared to many member churches which now have fewer than 10 active members? I believe that it is time to revisit our ecclesiology: a biblical study of what the Bible says about the Church. What is the definition of a church? What size is required for a church? How should a church function? What leadership does a church need?

It is time to face the brutal facts of church-planting. The first one is that most churches that are planted will never be larger than 75 attenders. Many church planters envision large churches of 100-200, some even 1,000+. Yet the average church in America is around 75. Many hover around 15-20. There aren’t enough tithing members in these small churches to sustain a physical plant and full-time pastor at the same time. The ones that can have gotten there after they paid off their building and may have other investments to help supplement their income. In most areas of the country it will take 70-80 members to do this.

This means that we will need a large number of bi-vocational leaders to serve the Church. The traditional model of church is very expensive and difficult to sustain. While it will take leaders with the spiritual gifts, personality, work ethic, and interpersonal skills to grow larger than average churches, it only takes average people to start and lead churches that average 10-40.

The second thing to consider is this: the church-planting model most often proposed is very expensive to implement. First, it is costly to identify where to plant a church. Paying a church planter to locate in the selected area, do outreach, and build a team takes capital. The team most often put together first is a worship team to cater to the modern audience. People who attend come to enjoy the services and benefit from the pastoral care. So the professionalization of the ministry leads to high quality services, but often encourages passivity among the laity. Mobilizing and unleashing the laity is the greatest need in church-planting. If the goal is to evangelize and disciple people, there are less costly, more effective ways to do this.

Third, we want to plant churches that see the need to plant churches. They become the base for other church plants. Instead of seeking to build churches that have centripetal forces at work, where the goal is to find and keep as many people together as possible, we want to plant churches with a centrifugal force working in them, where people are trained and thrust out for ministry. Centripetal forces offer little incentive for a pastor or church to send out church members into multiplying new (yet small) congregations.

The very life and health of our churches now depend upon attracting and keeping as many new, or old, believers as possible. The financing of salaries, programs, and overhead conspire to force us to draw as many people as possible into the fold to maintain the church. Where centrifugal forces are at work, people feel compelled by the Holy Spirit to engage in ministry work, to move out of their comfort zones, and to go and get involved in where God is working, and are encouraged by church leaders to do so.

There are objections to the planting of new churches. Given the fact that most small churches with aging members will die because they have followed the centripetal approach and grown inward, they still maintain that we have enough churches already. All we have to do is help the churches we have to prosper. A related concern is that, by planting new churches, we will create competition for existing churches and bring them down. Those of us who want to plant new churches must accept the fact that we are swimming against a powerful current of those who want to keep growing their existing churches (even when those churches are not growing).

The model that I am proposing involves grounded Christians starting Bible studies with their unchurched or unbelieving friends and neighbors in their homes. This removes the cumbersome expense of overhead. This model also spreads the work around, engaging fellow believers in the tasks of evangelism and discipleship. It also allows for fellowship and the practice of the reciprocal commands (one another commands). This model comes from the book of Acts, where people who were led to Jesus were gathered into homes or small groups and discipled.

2 Chronicles 32:24-33

Near the end of his life, Hezekiah became “mortally ill” and he prayed to the LORD for healing. The context is “in those days,” during the time when Sennacherib began to attack Judah (2 Kings 20:6). He was given a sign by the LORD, and we find out the details about this incident in 2 Kings 20:1-11. Isaiah visits him and tells him to set his house in order, for he will die and not live! He then turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD. He wept bitterly before the LORD. Before Isaiah could get away from the palace, God sent him back to the king to tell him that he would be healed. He was given the promise of an additional fifteen years of life and the deliverance of the city out of Assyria’s hands.

Hezekiah asked for a sign that God would heal him and was given a choice: the sun moving forward ten steps or backward ten steps. Hezekiah chose what he considered was more difficult: he asked for the sun’s shadow to move backward ten steps up the stairway of Ahaz. Hezekiah was told that he would be healed and would be able to go up to the house of the LORD on the third day. Isaiah instructed him to take a cake of figs and lay it on the boil. Hezekiah recovered.

However, we are also told that Hezekiah became proud and unappreciative of the benefit he had received, “because his heart was proud” (2 Chronicles 32:25). God’s wrath came upon them because of this. When Hezekiah “humbled the pride of his heart” (verse 26), God had mercy on them and postponed judgment in the days of Hezekiah. It seems to me that a part of this hubris is revealed in the way Hezekiah responded to the delegation sent from Babylon to supposedly check on the health of the king. It seems that they were not so interested in Hezekiah’s healing as they were there to solicit Judah’s help in their fight with Assyria. Hezekiah proudly showed off all of his wealth, mentioning nothing about the miracle and healing he had received from the LORD.

The visit became a trap for Hezekiah. He was flattered by this visit. Blinded by the impressive visit, he forgot the LORD. He showed the delegation from Babylon everything he had in his house, all his treasures. That must have made an impression on this delegation. Not a word did he mention about the LORD, and the miracle He did for him. He was silent about Him, Who took away the threat of death from him, and Whom he had come to know as the God of resurrection.

—KingComments on 2 Kings 20:12-19

“And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.” (2 Chronicles 32:31, BSB)

Hezekiah repented of this pride and failure. Isaiah informed him that all that he had shown the Babylonians would one day be taken away and Judah would fall into their hands. Hezekiah responded:

“But Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Will there not at least be peace and security in my lifetime?”” (2 Kings 20:19, BSB)

Let’s consider some of the lessons we see in these incidents.

• As the aging process leads us toward the end of life, health challenges, serious illness, and physical weakening will grow greater the longer we live. God may choose, as He did with Hezekiah, to answer our prayer for healing and extended life. He may not, but even if we are given fifteen extra years, we will still face death in the future. It behoves us, given the uncertainty of life, to be prepared for death. Spiritually, we need to make sure that our faith in Jesus stays strong during these challenging times. Financially, we need to make sure that we are good stewards of what God has given us and arrange for these finances to be used wisely after our death. We should always remember that we cannot take any of these things with us to the grave. We should do what Isaiah commands and set our house in order.

• Just as God was aware of Hezekiah’s bitter weeping, He is also aware of our suffering. We have a High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses, Jesus Christ our LORD. Go boldly before God’s throne of grace and you will find mercy and grace to help in time of need (see Hebrews 4:15-16).

• As people who have striven to become prosperous advance in age (and God has indeed prospered them), they also face the temptation of pride, thinking that their hard work and industry have enabled them to gain such wealth. Like Hezekiah, their hearts are lifted up in pride. Also, older people can become stubborn and obstinate, thinking they know it all.  As we age, we should seek to remain humble and teachable. We should not invite God’s judgment on our lives by harboring sinful pride in our hearts.

• Although we may rejoice in the fact that we will not live long enough to endure the future consequences of today’s decisions, we should do all that we can to remove or postpone them, recognizing that our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will have to face them. Putting off difficult decisions usually make future decisions much more difficult to deal with.

• We will still face “tests” to our faith until the end. We should continue to be vigilant in seeking God as we age.

• We should strive to have a testimony like Hezekiah’s where he was remembered for “his deeds of loving devotion” (2 Chronicles 32:32).

2 Chronicles 32

Hezekiah faced a formidable enemy in Sennacherib king of Assyria, who had just carried the northern tribes into captivity (2 Kings 17) and now was laying siege to Lachish, northwest of Jerusalem. In 2 Kings 18:13-16 we find that Hezekiah first sought to pay off the Assyrian king to keep him from coming against Jerusalem. The cost was immense, requiring Hezekiah to empty the coffers of the Temple and palace and even to strip the Temple doors and posts of their gold in order to meet Sennacherib’s demands. Obviously, it would not be enough to appease him. He is now threatening to lay siege to Jerusalem. So, Hezekiah makes preparations for war, cutting off the water supply outside the city, repairing the wall of Jerusalem, and even equipping the people with weapons. He then encouraged a fearful people to be strong and courageous. He said to them:

“”Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”

(2 Chronicles 32:7-8, NKJV)

Now, I believe in making preparations and in planning, as well as in placing our complete trust in the Lord. However, I wonder why Hezekiah felt that he could buy off the king of Assyria. I wonder why he didn’t trust God first instead of trying to bribe the king at great cost. I am reminded of a song that was one of my mother’s favorites and I can still hear her playing the piano and singing it.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources

Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

—He Giveth More Grace, Annie J. Flint

So before he starts his seige and to soften up the resistance, Sennacherib decides to employ the tactics of intimidation and subterfuge. He sends servants to start a campaign of verbal assaults on Jerusalem while he continues his siege of Lachish. They focus on undermining Hezekiah’s leadership and ridiculing his ability to protect and deliver his people. Who does he think he is that he can withstand the forces of Assyria, who have gone undefeated on a rampage of conquest? The Assyrian enemy threatens the people with hunger and thirst, questioning Yahweh’s power to deliver them. They remind the people of their victorious conquests over other nations and their gods. They were continuous in their verbal onslaughts (verse 16). Sennacherib also wrote letters intensifying his verbal assaults on Hezekiah and his God. The servants made sure that they were heard, for they were speaking these threats in the Hebrew language.

These are the tactics of an enemy seeking to discourage and debilitate the people of God.

During 2021 and 2022, Barna Group found that a large and growing percentage of pastors (around half) were seriously contemplating leaving the ministry. I can identify with their sentiments. I am going to be vulnerable here and express how the enemy has been attacking me. I feel that some of you will be able to identify with my situation.

I serve in a small denomination as the Director of Home Missions and Evangelism. I have been given the tasks of 1) encouraging revival, 2) helping struggling churches, and 3) recruiting and deploying church planters. The past 20 years have seen our numbers decline to the point that we are half as numerous as before across the spectrum of churches and pastors. To say that my job is challenging might be an understatement.

Revival is something I strongly encourage, but I have no control over when, where, or on whom it may fall.

I want to help struggling churches, but many don’t realize that they are struggling and won’t realize it until they are nearing the end and considering closing. When there are too few who are too old and have too little energy, what can I do to turn things around. Then multiply this many times over and you will begin to see my dilemma.

On top of this, I must find a way to recruit church planters at a time when fewer young people are entering the ministry, when only 17% of current pastors in America is under age 40, and when more pastors are dying, retiring, or just deciding to leave the ministry. This situation might keep a director up at night. The voice of the enemy reverberates in my head.

The enemy has been telling me that this is an impossible situation, that I am wasting my few remaining years, that this is a hopeless cause and useless expenditure of energy. I hear this voice telling me that my denomination doesn’t really care about this cause, that they don’t support it like they do other areas of ministry, and that I am wasting what few resources we have for home missions in my endeavors. He says that I don’t have what it takes; I’m not good enough. My enemy tells me it’s time to give up, to find something more rewarding to attempt, to turn in my resignation, and to walk away. After all, there are other ministries where my talents can be used, other places that need my help, other people who might appreciate what I have to offer.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. As with Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the enemy goes on speaking against the LORD God and against me and His people. Remember, our enemy, Satan, is the accuser. He delights to use these tactics to undermine God’s work. Now, I am not sharing these sentiments to get sympathy. I am sharing them because I believe that the enemy is using these tactics in a number of places with a number of churches and pastors. I want you to understand that the attacks are real, that they tend to wear a person down, and can, in a weak moment when we let our guard down, do real damage to ourselves and the Lord’s work. If we surrender, the enemy wins without a real fight.

Even as I sit here writing these thoughts, I have to fight off these attacks. I have been in the ministry for almost 49 years now, and I have heard this same voice and these same verbal assaults many times. I confess that on occasion, I have listened to them and, sadly, failed to trust God and His Word. This has led to regrets in the ministry. On other occasions, I have fought them off and found victory. Sometimes, I have struggled to know whether the voice was the enemy trying to undermine God’s work or God’s voice leading me to move on. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL. I want to follow in the steps of the Spirit, and not walk after the flesh!

2 Chronicles 31

After Hezekiah re-instituted the worship at the Temple, as the people heard the news, they responded in overwhelming generosity. I will list some of the instances that reveal this generosity. They “provided in abundance,” they “brought in abundantly,” and there were “heaps” (verses 6, 7, 8, 9). The testimony of the ministers was that they “had enough to eat with plenty left over.” “This great quantity is left over” (verse 10). The amazing generosity of God’s people forced Hezekiah to provide storehouses for the abundance, so that none of it was wasted. Such generosity was more than matched in the New Testament.

“Now, brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.”

(2 Corinthians 8:1-5, NASB)

Another sign of real revival is the generosity of God’s people that wells up to support His cause. I have seen, been around, and benefitted from the liberality of truly generous people. It is amazing to see what God can do as His people give generously. “We cannot out give our God.” Generosity does not depend on the amount we have or the amount we give. It is based on our willingness to give and the extend of our sacrifice. The widow who only had two pennies, nevertheless, gave all that she had. The most amazing thing about generosity is that it blesses the giver as much as the receiver. The greatest gift and greatest giver is named by St. Paul.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9, NASB)

The attitude is the key. Compulsion, requirement, duty, these are not at the heart of generosity. It is all about willingness.

2 Chronicles 31

Hezekiah appointed…”as it is written in the law of the LORD” (verse 3). He did this so “that they might devote themselves to the law of the LORD” (verse 4). I wonder when the law became so negative in the eyes of modern readers of the Bible. There is a revival coming in this book centered around the discovery of the book of the law. Even St. Paul declares the law to good.

“What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Far from it! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”” (Romans 7:7, NASB)

“So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12, NASB)

If the law was so bad, why did the Psalmist exult in it?

“The Law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much pure gold; Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, Your servant is warned by them; In keeping them there is great reward.”

(Psalms 19:7-11, NASB)

In Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, the writer devotes himself to extolling its virtues. Ten different words are used to describe this LAW. They are law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, word, path, and word (this one meaning promise or utterance). It seems that the psalmist sees the law as a multi-faceted jewel. Nine times he says he “delights” in it (verses, 16, 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, 92, 143, 174). He constantly declares his love for God’s law (verses 40, 47, 48, 97, 113, 119, 127, 132, 140, 159, 163, 165, 167, 174). If verse 103 is true, how did that which is so sweet to the taste, become so bitter in our mouths?

“How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalms 119:103, NASB)

When we come to Romans 7 where St. Paul is answering the question about the Christian’s relationship to the law, we must come there with the perspective of the Old Testament in mind. My purpose is not to explain this relationship or to address the purpose of the law. My concern here is to raise the issue, so that we may balance the conclusion we reach with an approach to the law that doesn’t vilify it and make it the antithesis of the Christian approach.

2 Chronicles 31

Hezekiah’s interest and involvement in the organization of the Temple, its ministers (priests and Levites), and its ministries is shown in detail in this chapter. It is obvious that, if the worship of the Lord is to continue vibrantly, organization would be necessary to keep the services available and going forward. His rationale is recorded thus:

“And Hezekiah appointed the divisions of the priests and the Levites according to their divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to serve, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp of the LORD.” (2 Chronicles 31:2, NKJV)

This description brings to mind the relationship that exists between the exercise of religious worship and the organization that enables it. There is always a tenuous relationship between the two. Worship without structure becomes chaotic. Over-organized worship becomes lifeless ritual. Organization can become the focus, sucking life from the organism. Function without form ultimately fails to function.

What do we need to consider here?

1.  Revival disrupts cold ritual, threatening the routine of organized religion.

2. The burning passion of revival fires tend to burst outside the boundaries we set for worship.

3. The focus on the organization, the resources of time, energy, and money spent to maintain it, will drain the life-force out of worship.

4. The neglect of organization will allow the revival fires to become smoldering embers that turn to ash.

5. The key is to provide the necessary organization that will sustain the organism without overwhelming it.

We need organization to maintain its life and service. But when we are so burdened by maintaining the structure that we neglect the life and purpose of the organization, we are just preparing a corpse to be ultimately buried. What once was an important part of maintaining the health of the organization can lead to its demise. We need to keep the main thing the main thing. The structure and organization should serve the organisms, not the reverse. If an organization is struggling, more organizing will not fix it.

“The world outside is not going to pay much attention to all the organized efforts of the Christian church. The one thing she will pay attention to is a body of people filled with a spirit of rejoicing. This is how Christianity conquered the ancient world. It was this amazing joy of these people. Even when you threw them into prison, or even to death, it did not matter, they went on rejoicing; rejoicing in tribulation . . When the Holy Spirit is operating, this is the inevitable result—a joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.”

— Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. Joy Unspeakable, Power & Renewal in the Holy Spirit, p. 102.